Selection of a potent inhibitor of trihydroxynaphthalene reductase by sorting disease control data

Compounds that control rice blast, but not other crop diseases, were selected for testing as inhibitors of trihydroxynaphthalene reductase of the fungal melanin biosynthetic pathway. A potent inhibitor of the enzyme (2) (Ki=25 nM) was identified. An X-ray structure of the enzyme-NADPH-2 complex was determined at 2.1 Å resolution.